Lost Lake (Lost Lake, #1)(60)

“There’s no reason for me to hold on to my land if Eby sells. But I only agreed to invest my land after Eby sold hers. Not a moment before. This has been her decision entirely.” He navigated her around the dance floor easily, finding space near the edge. “I’m not blind. These past few days, I’ve seen what you’ve seen. Eby doesn’t want to give up this place. And neither do I. After we found the Alligator Box yesterday, I told my uncle that our deal was off. It’s one of many reasons Lazlo is ignoring me today.”

She wanted to stay angry. Anger was a great motivator. She’d spent the past year feeling nothing but grief, so anger felt good. But she couldn’t hang on to it. He didn’t deserve it.

“I’m sorry,” she finally said, not meeting his eyes.

His chest jumped as he laughed. “That sounded painful. Did it hurt?”

“Yes,” she said, then added, “Will you tell Eby? Will you tell her you’re not selling?”

“I’ll tell her.”

“Right now?”

“In a minute.”

He didn’t want to let go of her, she realized. He wanted to dance on this floor like he’d seen people do when he was younger. She was sure any number of women here would be more than happy to dance with him, like Brittany, the girl from the Fresh Mart, who was frowning at them from a table. But he wanted her. A slow awareness came over her as they moved. She wished she was still angry, because then she could concentrate on that, and not this. She never thought she’d feel this way again. It frightened her. She didn’t want to fall for anyone. She didn’t want her life to suddenly go back to the way it was when she was with Matt. She didn’t think she had the strength to prop up another person for so long again.

Was that selfish? Was it different if you knew that the man you desired wanted just as much for you to be happy? Maybe that was the most frightening thing of all: Wes was that man. She’d known that when she was twelve, and she knew that now.

“Kate?” Wes said, when he felt her press her forehead against his chest, felt her hand squeeze his, conflicted.

It was too soon. She still dreamed of Matt sometimes. Of being on top of him, of looking down at him through a tunnel of her long hair. The smell of him sometimes met her around corners, stopping her in her tracks. But those were just needs, weren’t they? Not specific to Matt, if she could feel this way again with Wes.

Oh, God. She couldn’t do this again.

And yet she didn’t step away. For several long, glorious moments, she just let Wes hold her, hold her up and feel her weight grow lighter. Beads of sweat trickled down her chest, between her breasts. The electric fans the band brought only managed to move the hot air around, not cool things off.

She finally looked up at him, searching his face for some answer. His eyes went to her mouth, like that day on the dock. He slowly leaned forward.

And that’s when she saw the car.

As people came and left, cars had circled the lawn all day, so the blue BMW approaching didn’t appear out of place to anyone except Kate.

There was nowhere to park, so the BMW simply stopped in the middle of the driveway near the main house.

And Cricket emerged.

She was wearing dark jeans and a loose white blouse, and her dark hair formed a perfect helmet around her head that the humidity could not touch. She was just so cool and measured. Nothing about being here, about stepping into this foreign situation, seemed to bother her.

Kate stepped back from Wes and immediately looked for Devin, hoping her daughter wouldn’t see Cricket. She knew how she would react. If Kate had known her mother and father were planning to leave that day fifteen years ago, Kate would have cried, would have screamed, would have hidden. Anything to keep from leaving.

She found Devin sitting under a picnic table with the other girls. They were chewing on ice, secreted away in their own little fort.

“Are you all right?” Wes asked.

“Yes,” she said, turning back to him. His color was high. “I’m sorry. I see someone I need to talk to. Excuse me.”

She could feel his eyes on her as, every muscle in her body tense, she walked over to Cricket, who was now standing by her car. She was surveying the crowd, getting a feel for it.

Cricket took off her sunglasses and carefully put them on her head as Kate approached. “So this is what has been taking up all your time,” she said calmly, so calm that she could only be angry.

“What are you doing here?” Kate demanded. She didn’t belong here. Everything about Cricket being here was wrong. She brought Kate’s old life with her; Kate could even feel it trying to settle over her skin, like dressing her in clothing she didn’t want to wear. This must have been what Devin felt like every day of the past year.

“You forced my hand when you stopped answering your phone.”

“So you drove four hours here?” Kate asked. “If you found out where it was, then you knew there was a phone number.”

“But then I would have missed that charming little dance,” Cricket said with a click of her tongue. “Who was that?”

Kate didn’t want to tell her. This had nothing to do with her. But Kate had created this mess. She had let Cricket think that her life was hers to control. It was time to fix this. “His name is Wes.”

“Is that who you really came here to see?”